How to own your job

Be accountable

To do this you need to begin with reinforcing the change you want to see in others. Do what you say you are going to do. It is not letting your team members down that are counting on you. Within this state, trust can be formed with you and your team, you and your manager and/or you and your client. This will leave an overall positive impact on your productivity.

Be available

How are you spending your 1440 minutes a day? Take responsibility for your own career. Time is money and you want to get the most out of your minutes everyday. The best way to do this is to build in flexibility, because there will always be the unexpected in the workplace. Block off time on your calendar as "do not disturb" for lengthy projects, and time for phone calls and emails. This gives you some buffer time for potential interruptions. More tips for using your minutes wisely, is to prep more effectively for meetings. Another is to know your "peak time, which is when you are at your best and most productive. Use this time to focus on a particularly important difficult task that may need more attention. Organize your space, so you can access items you use everyday quicker versus a project you may look at once a week.

Show initiative

Understand the overall objective and how you can play a part in achieving the goal. One of the best ways you can do this is by being assertive. By this I mean, say what you mean and mean what you say, not in a mean way. Explain to whomever you may be talking to what you need, for example "This is what I need, what do you need from me?". This gives a clear line of communication of what job you need to be done, and also how you can be of help.

Think before you act

Do not make any decision on an emotional impulse. Get to the facts, not the emotions! Give yourself a chance to stepback, seperate and pause. Make sure you are staying professional, positive, and productive during the decision making process. Give yourself time to consider the options, define the goal, information needed to reach that goal, analyze different actions you can take, and then implement the course of action you wish to take. After this is done it is always necessary to measure the results to see how successful this particular course of action was. This way you can determine what works and does not work for future choices you may have to face with the job.

Be approachable

Are you listening to what your boss, coworker or client needs? To do this, you need to be an empathetic listener. People trust someone who understands their point of view and are more than likely to have improved communication, which is essential in any job. How to be an empathetic listener? Pay attention to what you are doing when someone is talking to you. Is your mind elsewhere? Are you looking at your phone or checking emails? STOP! Listen with both your eyes and your ears, make eye contact and be engaged! To practice your "listening face" look in a mirror when you talk on the phone... are you looking interested? Are you smiling? Would you want to talk to the person in the mirror? This is a great way to practice empathic listening, so when there is a question, issue or even great news at work, you boss, coworker or client feels comfortable coming to you and that you are really listening to what they have to say.